ARCHAEOLOGISTS of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences have finished reconstructing a 5,300-year-old pottery statue from fragments unearthed in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it was announced Saturday.

The debris of the pottery statue were found at the Xinglonggou relics site in Aohan Banner of Chifeng City in May.

Experts began to excavate the debris June 30, and finished restoring the statue on Friday, said Liu Guoxiang, leader of the first archaeology team of Inner Mongolia.

The restored seated figure is 55cm high with bulging eyes, a high nose and vivid facial expression. It was pieced together from 65 fragments.

“The statue may be of a wizard or leader in the famous Hongshan Culture period (a Neolithic culture dating back 5,000-6,000 years),” added Liu.